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Jamie Eisenberg
Who do you want the most? That's what we're covering on today's Fantasy Football Today here on CBS Sports Network. I'm Jamie Eisenberg. That's Heath Cummings, that's Dave Richard. We're going to tell you about the players that we're looking to draft the most this year. But first we got to get to a lot of news and notes that's happening around the NFL and there is nothing bigger by far then the unicorn Travis Hunter. Our own Pete Prisco got a chance to catch up with this week. Guys, before we see what here, at least what Travis Hunter said to our own Pete Priscoe, how are you approaching the rookie wide receiver slash defensive back for the Jaguars? Who for Me is very difficult to rank because I don't know how much we're going to see him play defense. I don't know how much we're seeing play offense. Heath, what are you doing with Travis Hunter right now?
Dave Richard
This is the prototypical upside wide receiver 3. I'm ranking him right around wide receiver 30. Some days I get more optimistic. I move him a little bit up. Some days I get a little bit more worried about that defense maybe move them a little bit down. But Travis Hunter has the skill set and the ability as arguably the best player in college football last year, to come in and just take the NFL by storm and be a top 12 wide receiver. There's just risk that keeps us from ranking him that high.
Heath Cummings
Dave, I. I agree with Heath. I think he's a top 30 receiver. I would expect him to play much more wide receiver than defensive back. I think he's going to be a great short and intermediate target for Jacksonville. They need somebody like that after all the changes they had last year. And I think there's going to be games, and in more than like two or three games, maybe even half the games they play this year, where he leads this team in targets, I am very excited about him. Like, late round five is when the radar goes up.
Jamie Eisenberg
All right, Dave, you said you expect to see him play much more on offense than defense. He did not say that. He said he wants to play every snap of every game. Here's what he told our guy, Pete Prisco. How many plays do you think you could play?
Dave Richard
You think you could play them all?
Travis Hunter
Yeah, I definitely think I could play them all.
Jamie Eisenberg
If.
Travis Hunter
If I didn't think I could play them all, I wouldn't be trying to do it.
Jamie Eisenberg
But what makes you able to do that? There's.
Dave Richard
Nobody's ever done that. What.
Jamie Eisenberg
What makes you capable of doing that?
Travis Hunter
Just my mental. You know, you gotta have the right mindset going into it. You gotta have the right knowledge. You gotta understand what you're doing when you're going out there. You gotta understand how to take care of your body, too.
Heath Cummings
What.
Jamie Eisenberg
What's tougher for you, playing cornerback or playing ybc? Neither.
Travis Hunter
Just gotta go out there and execute.
Jamie Eisenberg
If I'm. If I'm covering you and I'm a db, what is my biggest worry when.
Pete Prisco
I have to cover you?
Travis Hunter
The ball in the air.
Jamie Eisenberg
Because you don't drop anything.
Travis Hunter
Yeah, I'm gonna get it.
Jamie Eisenberg
And then on the other side, if I'm against you, matched up, what's my biggest win?
Travis Hunter
The ball in the air. I'm going to get it.
Jamie Eisenberg
So here's what makes me nervous about Hunter playing a lot on defense is that A he's going to get tired B what if he's better on defense than he is on offense and they just start to shift a little bit more of his playing time in that direction? So I think what you said, round five early round six is probably the sweet spot for him. We'll see where he ends up getting drafted. I think right now his ADP is at number 60 overall. For me though, this makes it more I'm more interested in Brian Thomas. Not that I was avoiding Thomas by any stretch, but I put him into round one. His ADP right now is is as the number number 60. I'm sorry, number 60. Number 15 overall player for Thomas wide receiver 8 I'm taking him at the back end of round one. He's my number six wide receiver right now. I would take him ahead of Amara St. Brown. I would take him ahead of actually puking a Cook because I'm a little bit concerned about Matthew Stafford with the back injury. Do you guys get any more excited about Brian Thomas though, because of this?
Heath Cummings
Dave no, the opposite. I get a little bit more nervous about Brian Thomas because I think Travis Hunter, who is really impressing on both sides of the ball according to every training camp report that I've read out of Jacksonville, could end up doing what he says he's going to do. And he sounded like a diva receiver. He had that type of swagger when he was talking to Peaches then. It just makes me more encouraged that he'll play a lot of offense and he'll do great with it. And if he's getting a lot of targets, what does that mean for Brian Thomas Jr. Still a top 10 fantasy wide receiver for me, but I think I would rather have Nakua and St. Brown.
Dave Richard
Yeah, I think for Thomas it feels like that wide receiver 6 to 8 range might be where he is. No matter what Travis Hunter is, I don't think that he's going to jump into the top three. So I do kind of agree with Dave. I've got more fear because I don't want to put a percentage on it, but there is a much bigger than zero chance that Travis Hunter is just the best wide receiver on Jacksonville in the second half of the season.
Jamie Eisenberg
Definitely could be the case. Also, we could see a little bit more of Diamond Brown than we maybe anticipate and Brenton Strange also having a good camp as well. All right, let's talk about something else going on in the NFL. And that's RJ Harvey, the rookie running back for the Denver Broncos. Sean Payton very glowing about Harvey on Tuesday, saying, quote, he's been exceptional. So we got Harvey and J.K. dobbins, Dobbins getting first teen reps as well. Heath, when you look at this Broncos backfield, how are you approaching it? Are you more interested in Harvey at his cost, which is basically RB 2258 overall? That's according to fantasy pros. Or would you rather wait a little bit and get Dobbins, who's RB40 at 117 overall?
Dave Richard
Yeah, I think RB40 might be just a little bit late for Dobbins. Harvey is almost exactly where I have him ranked. I will admit a little bit of skepticism about things Sean Payton says about players he's drafted in round two. I've fallen for the Marvin Mims trap over and over and over and Sean Payton keeps telling me he has to play more and then Sean Payton keeps not playing him more. So I do think we should show some caution with these positive reports. But I do. I would expect Harvey to be a low end RB2, Dobbins to be a good RB3, and there will be weeks maybe early in the season where Dobbins is just the better option. What's really interesting is I we view J.K. dobbins as Guy who's just been a hyper, efficient rusher and a great runner. And he is. But he's also exceptional in pass protection and that could create real problems for RJ Harvey if JK Dobbins is on the field for so many passing downs because he blocks so well and he's doing well as a rusher.
Heath Cummings
But I love hearing that he's doing a phenomenal job in Denver and that he's really starting to show out and show off that speed. The they need that. You remember how this Broncos run game was last year. Man, they were atrocious. Javante Williams couldn't get the job done. Audre Estimate filled in a little bit toward the end of the season. It was a mess. And so now they've reloaded kind of like other teams have done in the AFC West. And getting RJ Harvey, he's the splashier pick and I'm with Heath. I think that the ADP is right on him. But I I'm more intrigued by J.K. dobbins because not only do I think he'll play on those third downs and I think he'll creep into those first and second down roles just enough to give him some good Fantasy value from week to week. Probably by the end of the year we'll be saying yeah, RJ Harvey's the better guy in Denver. But JK Dobbins when he was healthy wasn't bad either. And Dobbins should still end up being healthy for much of his games, especially since Jamie, he's splitting the reps with Harvey.
Jamie Eisenberg
He gave me some scary flashbacks to Sean Payton. Tell me about how great Kobe Fleener was going to be when he was the coach signed him to be their tight end. Another backfill that we're looking at is in Minnesota where we got the report from espn. This is not from Kevin o'. Connell. This is just a writer speculating based on what they've seen that we could see basically an even split between Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. Now as part of the story on espn, Aaron Jones said this quote, I'm not a selfish player. So whatever it looks like, it looks like as long as we come out with the victory, I'm happy. I'm chasing rings. I'm not really chasing stats right now. Aaron Jones is going as RB 25 65th overall in fantasy pros. Jordan Mason's going as RB 38 at 112 overall. For me, I'm passing on Aaron Jones. I'm targeting Jordan Mason. I just think the value is too good and if they are splitting touches I'd rather have the guy that's coming at a cheaper cost. Dave, how you approaching the Vikings backfill again?
Heath Cummings
Exactly the same way and when they're near the goal line. Jamie, who do you expect to be in there? Is it going to be Aaron Jones or is it going to be Mason who's younger and more physical? I think it's going to end up being Mason and if he's got that short yardage role then that means Aaron Jones is going to have to do a lot on a part time basis, especially catching the football for him to make up any difference he's got between Jordan Mason and let's not forget that Aaron Jones does have an injury history. He could miss games throughout the year. Hopefully it doesn't happen. I love watching Aaron Jones play, but if he does miss time. We've seen Jordan Mason as a lead running back for a team like Minnesota before and and he did very very well. So I love the value with Mason, absolutely look at him as a pick just before 100th overall.
Dave Richard
I love the value on Mason. I have them projected for similar amounts of rush attempts, Mason for slightly more touchdowns. I think the big difference though will be in the passing game where Aaron Jones should dominate those reps. Jones is.
Jamie Eisenberg
30 years old at this point. Dave alluding to Mason, what he did last year was San Francisco when Christian McCaffrey only played four games. So before Mason had some injury concerns of his own and Isaac Arundo took over, he was off to a fantastic start. All right, we had a lot of injuries happen on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm going to give you the laundry list of guys. We'll touch on a few of these subjects here in regards to some injuries and some injury news on some players who were already dealing with some problems prior to Tuesday just missing practice. So let's talk about some of the new injuries. The biggest one was Isaiah Likely dealing with an ankle injury which turned out to be a fractured foot. That's going to keep him out for a few weeks. Malik Neighbors dealing with shoulder injury. By all accounts, he's expected to be okay. Giants are off on Wednesday, so we don't have an updated report there. Ladd McConkey was not going to play in the hall of Fame game on Thursday, but dealing with an undisclosed injury, hopefully he'll be fine. Xavier Worthy is now in the concussion protocol, so something to keep an eye on there. And Marquis Brown dealing with an ankle injury, we don't know how long he's going to be out. Michael Pittman also dealing with the groin injury, but I want to go back to Isaiah Likely. So Heath, I'll just come to you on this. Mark Andrews, last year his numbers were better, understandably. So when Likely missed time. How are you viewing Andrews now with the chance that Likely could miss the start of the season until he's fully recovered from this injury?
Dave Richard
Yeah, I think that this probably means that Mark Andrews can justify his ADP now as opposed to I thought he was being a little bit overdrafted I would expect at the beginning of the year, Andrew's role looks a little bit more like it did in 2023 and beyond. And some people may think, you know, Andrew was still good last year. It was just that he scored so many touchdowns. The targets were terrible. So maybe you draft Mark Andrews where he's being drafted and then plan on trading him after a couple of weeks.
Jamie Eisenberg
Yep. And who knows, you know, when Likely comes back, you may need a couple of weeks to ramp up to get back to game speed. So just something to keep an eye on there. But this is a boost for Mark Andrews with likely missing time and you're probably going to take Likely off of your draft boards. A guy you were taking with a late round pick could be some value, maybe look to add him in Week one if he's going to be out maybe a couple of games to start the season. Dave when you look at the Chiefs wide receivers now you have Worthy in the concussion protocol. We don't know about Rashi Rice and when the potential suspension may happen, if it is going to happen, but that's what we anticipate. And now you have Marquis Brown dealing with this ankle injury. How are you approaching Chiefs wide receivers now? It's just waiting to see how the ADP will sort of settle or are you still targeting these guys in the same spots?
Heath Cummings
I'm basically targeting them in the same spots and I've been kind of bullish on Xavier Worthy. I think he's a wide receiver too, like a slam dunk as a wide receiver too. But you've got to keep tabs on how he does coming off the concussion. I I expect it to be fine. We're more than a month out before the start of the season. I mean he could still play in a preseason game even if he sits out for two to three weeks. So I'm not worried about Worthy yet and Rice not too far behind Worthy in my rankings. Both of them actually top 24 guys. I would rather draft Worthy because I am expecting a suspension for Rasheed Rice. But if that suspension never comes I'm clearly making a mistake. I'll feel like a Rashee Rice will go back to being like a top 15 fantasy wide receiver in if we get a full season of him. Hollywood Brown isn't even on my radar at this point. These are the two guys that I want from the receiver room in Kansas City.
Jamie Eisenberg
If this concussion lingers for Worthy, which we don't hope is going to be the case, and Rice does face some sort of lengthy suspension, Travis Kelce's fantasy value will certainly go a little bit higher. Right now he's tight end six coming off the board on average draft position. Some other injuries that we're just keeping an eye on at this point. Kevin Oconnell says that Justin Jefferson's hamstring injury 0 worry about week one, so that's a great sign for him. Devonte Smith has missed two straight practices, Monday and Tuesday. I don't think they're practicing on Wednesday, but something to keep an eye on there. Just dealing with a little back injury. Juwan Jennings continues to miss practice with the calf injury. Something to monitor there. Naji Harris still no timetable for his eye injury and Marshawn Lloyd dealing with A groin injury so some long term injuries that we're keeping an eye on. Jefferson, clearly the most important one, but does sound like he will be ready for week one. So you can draft him comfortably in the first six overall picks. Are we going to take a break right now? We come back and again into Dave's most wanted players. How much is he willing to spend up to get Christian McCaffrey? What do you think about Nico Collins? We'll talk about Dave's most wanted players next here on Fantasy Football Today.
Dave Richard
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Jamie Eisenberg
Visit roberthalf.com talent today welcome back to Fantasy Football Today. I'm Jamie, that's Heath, that's Dave. And it's now Dave's turn under the spotlight as we're talking about his most wanted players for 2025. So here's the five guys that Dave listed. He obviously wants a lot more players because he's got to fill out an entire fantasy roster when he does his drafts. But here are five guys that Dave is targeting and maybe drafting the most. Christian McCaffrey, Nico Collins, Bucky Irving, Omarion Hampton and Caleb Johnson. And Dave, we'll start with Christian McCaffrey because last year's number one overall pick is very polarizing. But I think a lot of people are starting to come around to the fact that he could be the best player in fantasy again. Right now his average draft position on Fantasy Pros is RB5, number 10 overall. I think at the start of the offseason we were saying yeah, we'll probably see him going round two, maybe the turn. Now he's starting to creep into the back end of round one and a top five overall pick. When are you comfortable drafting McCaffrey and what are your expectations for him this season?
Heath Cummings
I'm comfortable drafting him as soon as seventh overall and I, I just, I keep moving him up, Jamie, because as long as he's healthy, he's a threat to be the best player in fantasy and as of right now he's healthy. How many running backs can you name that can put a PPR points like a top 12 quarterback? How many running backs can you name who are like a CINCH to score at least once in every single game. And and how many running backs can you name who've averaged over five targets per game in five different seasons? Let's be honest, he's a fancy juggernaut because he's in an offense that's perfect for him. I happen to like the schedule that the 49ers have this year. I think that's going to be conducive to Christian McCaffrey. I like his backup running back. It's Isaac Garendo. Easy guy to go and click on in round eight. If you take McCaffrey in round one, I'm sold on McCaffrey coming back and having one more monster year. I think this is it. I'm happy to call him a top 10 pick and I wouldn't be mad at you if you took him as high as 101 if you really believed in McCaffrey coming back and doing his thing. The only reason to walk away from him in the fantasy is because you're scared of an injury because he got hurt last year. But as of now, there's no reason to believe that that's definitely going to happen again. He's a first rounder for sure.
Jamie Eisenberg
Heath, how confident are you in McCaffrey and do the injuries that the 49ers receivers are dealing with right now? You got Jennings with the calf injury. Pierce hall just came off the PUP list this week. Brandon Ayuk still on the PUP list with his knee injury. Does that benefit McCaffrey's situation?
Dave Richard
It certainly benefits him if he's able to stay healthy. I think this is one of the most terrifying picks in Round one because every it's terrifying in both directions. Everything Dave said is right. And every time you make a pick that's not Christian McCaffrey, you know there's a chance he's going to go score 28 fantasy points per game and you're going to feel like a big idiot. But at the same time, the one place I think that people should be a little bit more cautious is in round one. You start worrying about injury risk in round four or round five. Losing that guy is not going to end your season. Drafting Christian McCaffrey 101 might end your season. And you know what? There's a long list of people who play fantasy football who've done that in the last five years and experienced that. So I do think we talk a lot about Saquon Barkley and you guys are a little more cautious with him than I am. I've got Barkley a couple spots behind his adp, so I'm not really drafting him either. But it's kind of funny to think that we're so worried about the guy who stayed healthy enough to touch the ball 400 plus times last year and now we're saying Christian McCaffrey is healthy. Right? Let's go.
Jamie Eisenberg
I look at that every time I see my rankings, I have McCaffrey ranked ahead of Barkley. So it is a little nerve wracking. But I do think as, as Dave said, you know, what McCaffrey did two years ago, over 23 points per game, PPR points per game is hard to overlook. And if he stays healthy, he can be an absolute monster. Once again, let's talk about Nico Collins, who is, according to fantasy pros, wide receiver eight. Going 13th overall. So not around one pick. You have him, Dave as wide receiver six. What do we think Nico's going to do Coming back from a little bit of an injury plague season last year, missed some time with a hamstring injury. We know the receiving core is going to be a little bit different in Houston. What's the outlook for him?
Heath Cummings
I think he's going to dominate targets in Houston and be awesome just like he was last year. 8.3 targets per game, 17.6 PPR points per game. I think both of those numbers, Jamie, could go up because as wide receivers got hurt in Houston last year, his target per route run rate exploded. That means that C.J. stroud had no choice but to look for him. And I look at the Texans receiving core and Christian Kirk's there and they drafted a couple of rookies who I happen to like. But I, I think Nico Collins is still going to command a ton of targets, potentially 10 per game. That's always a magic number when it comes to fantasy receivers getting around or over 20 PPR points per game. I think Nico can do it. And then you tack on this huge question mark at running back Joe Mixon not healthy. When's he going to be back? When will he be like himself, the other guys behind him, It's Nick Chubb, it's Woody Marks. Not a lot of confidence in those running backs. Houston might throw more than they even want to and that means more targets for Nico Collins. And Nico last year, big target volume, big PPR points. He did that when Joe Mixon was healthy. Just imagine what he would do if Joe Mixon is not right to begin the season or maybe even at all this season in Houston.
Jamie Eisenberg
Nico's my wide receiver for Heath. I think you're going to see basically the top three receivers no matter what order they're in behind Chase. So Chase, Lamb, Jefferson. Rank these guys for me though. Nico Collins, Malik, Neighbors, Puka, Nakua, Amanra, Saint Brown, Brian Thomas and AJ Brown. How are you ranking those guys?
Dave Richard
So I've got it. Puka, Neighbors, Brown, Nico Thomas, Amon Ross, St Brown. Now most of these guys are also back to back to back in my overall ranking, so I don't think there's a huge amount of separation between them. There's probably a little something to doubt with each of them. I think Dave made a good point about the fact that Nico had kind of an injury prone season. He's had kind of an injury plagued career. He's never played even 16 games in a season, never seen more than 109 targets in a season. So I expect when he's on the field he is going to be absolutely dominant in every way that Dave said. I'm not sure after four seasons of this that we can project him for a full 17 game season.
Jamie Eisenberg
Do have some offensive line concerns for Houston as well, but I think as Dave alluded to, the running game situation for Houston could be so bad that CJ Stroud may have a career high in attempts and hopefully Nico Collins as the senior member of this receiving corps and the best member of this receiving corps, he shines through. Bucky Irving's on your list Dave. He's around two pick according to fantasy pros. RB7 RB, excuse me, RB10 23rd overall now Pete Prisco, another training camp stop for him was in Tampa Bay. He spoke to Bucky Irving, asked him if he's ready for a bigger workload than what we saw last year and down the stretch he was certainly a monster in terms of what he did from a touch standpoint by comparison to Rashad White. But Pete also said that we don't maybe see that workload coming for Bucky Irving to start the season because of maybe some concerns about his size. Are we expecting Bucky Irving to be like the guy we saw in the beginning part of last season or the end of last season?
Heath Cummings
I think he's going to be like the guy that we saw to end the season and help push Tampa Bay into the postseason. How do you get away from that if you're Tampa? And how do you not use Bucky Irving even more? There were only two games in his final eight, including the postseason, where he played more than 60% of the snaps. He had a lot of games where he would have 15 plus touches but only three with 20 plus touches, so there's more for him to gain. And he averaged over 18 PPR points per game in those final eight. His efficiency was through the roof. He's one of the most elusive running backs in the game right now. Thrilled to take him in round two as a top ten fantasy running back.
Jamie Eisenberg
Keith, it's similar to the wide receivers. We get to that back end around two, we see Bucky Irving, Chase Brown, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, you know, maybe Kyron Williams is still in that group. How do you sort of view those guys and where does Bucky fall for you?
Dave Richard
Yeah, Bucky's pretty much at the back of that range. I don't have him too far from 23. I think I've got him 26. So early round three instead of late round two. I'm not as certain as Dave that there's going to be a big workload increase coming for Buck Irving. First off, they've got Rashad White, who's pretty good on passing downs, and they can't stop talking about Sean Tucker. And this guy was electric when he touched the football last year, and I just happened to be a big fan of him when he came into the NFL. But I think for a guy like Bucky, who was a day three pick and does have some size concerns, we need to be a little bit careful, expecting him to take a big jump in terms of how much he plays. For me, he's a very, very good RB2, but I'm not ready to commit to him as an RB one.
Jamie Eisenberg
I do think the work in the passing game will be fascinating for him because Rashad White, three straight seasons of 50 receptions in a contract year. They can run him into the ground if they to. And I think he's somebody that's going to factor a little bit too much to help Bucky's to. To sort of hurt Bucky's full upside. And I think what we saw last year is kind of what Tampa Bay wants to mirror, is to get to the end of the season and then put a lot on his plate to make sure that they have that playoff push. I don't think. I don't think we'll see that full workload coming in the beginning part of the season. Dave, you got two rookies on your list here in Omarion Hampton and Caleb Johnson. Both guys are in what could be timeshares now. We're waiting to find out when Najee Harris will return, but clearly that's going to help Hampton's upside, getting all the work he could possibly handle and we will see him in the hall of Fame game according to Jim Harbaugh. Hopefully it's not going to be for an entire game, but maybe a driver too just to see what he looks like. And Caleb Johnson dealing with the Jalen Warren factor and having to earn a spot from his pass protection standpoint because Jalen Warren very good in that role. So which of the two rookie situations are you more encouraged by and when would you be willing to buy into drafting these two rookies?
Heath Cummings
I mean Omarion Hampton could end up being the not just the second best running back for the rookies this year, but really close to the top running back in Ashton Genty. He's got this head start on Najee Harrison training camp where he's already elusive and physical. He's making gains as a pass protector. Greg Roman can't stop raving about him, saying he's going to get a ton of opportunities. I think Najee Harrison, this fireworks incident is going to cost him the opportunity to have a decent role at the beginning of the season. We all figured that by mid season Amar and Hampton would take over and Nachi would be in a smaller role. I think that might happen now. I think Hampton could be the guy week one that's running away with 15 plus touches, getting a couple catches on top of it and being the workhorse that the Chargers so desperately needed at times last year. Caleb Johnson's going to split all year with Jalen Warren, but it's going to be a split and I would expect Caleb Johnson to handle that short yardage goal line work. Johnson's actually done a great job catching the ball according to reports out of Pittsburgh and he might end up being the better running back to draft out of Pittsburgh for fantasy purposes. So I'm a little bullish on Caleb Johnson, borderline RB2, RB3, someone that I'm looking at taking in round six because I think he can score a bunch of touchdowns in a Pittsburgh offense that should continue to run the ball a lot even with Aaron Rodgers there.
Jamie Eisenberg
All right, you have Hampton ahead of his average draft position. He's RB16 for you. He's coming off the board as RB17, 45th overall. And Caleb Johnson, you have his RB22 coming off the board, RB27, 71st overall in fantasy pros. Heath, just real quick when you look at Hampton and Johnson and RJ Harvey and Travion Henderson, rank those four rookie running backs for me.
Dave Richard
Yeah, I've got Henderson and Hampton back to back at the four or five turn Harvey a little bit later in round five. And then Caleb Johnson is more of a round seven pick for me.
Jamie Eisenberg
Okay, so a little bit lower on Caleb Johnson than consensus, but obviously very excited about Travion Henderson, who is not on your most wanted list, but Devon Achan is, along with Deandre Swift, another couple running backs that we'll talk about. So we're gonna take a break here on Fantasy Football today. When we come back, a teeth turn with his most wanted players for 2025.
H
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Jamie Eisenberg
Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today. It's now time for Heath Cummings turn to tell us his five most wanted players for 2025. He's going to Chicago, I think maybe stepping on Dave's toes here with his old stomping grounds. But Heath likes a couple Bears on his list along with Devon Achan, one running back that he's talked a lot about. You're going to be surprised when you find out how much Heath likes Devon Hn this season. He also has Jerry Judy on his list and Justin Fields. If you listen to our Fantasy Football Today podcast, we went over our quarterback preview on Wednesday. I highly encourage you to check that out. We spent a lot of time talking about Fields, but we clearly will not overlook him today. But Heath, let's talk about HN because he's RB2 for you fantasy pros. ADP has him going as RB7, 13th overall. Now, are you drafting him second overall or are you just going to sort of play the board depending on if you have a top six or seven pick?
Dave Richard
Yeah, I. I've drafted him as RB2 and my projections, I mean, you thought that was a hot take. Here's a hotter take and my projections in full ppr. He's my RB one. I just think Bijan Robinson's quite a bit safer. But if you look at what this guy has done since he entered the NFL as a rookie in nine full games, over 20 fantasy points per game. Last year when he and Tua were on the field together healthy, he was over 22 fantasy points per game. Mike McDaniel keeps talking about how we have to get the ball out of two his hands quicker and then they Trade John who SM one of their top dump off options to the Pittsburgh Steelers and replace them with Darren Waller, who's not going to fill that role. I have a 100 target expectation for HN this year and I think there's 100 catch upside. The fact that all these Dolphins defensive backs keep getting hurt would maybe be bad for some running backs, but his value is so entrenched in that passing game, it might actually be a benefit to hn.
Jamie Eisenberg
Dave, you're at the Dolphins training camp on Tuesday. What did you see from Achan that maybe will put you in the same spot as Heath to put him at second overall?
Heath Cummings
Saw him catch a wheel route where he burned Bradley chubb for about 30 yards and that was in 11 on 11 drills. That's just an appetizer. He caught a bunch of other passes, had a number of great runs. This offensive line looked better than expected and they played without their starting center. So maybe that offensive line in Miami improved just enough to help Devon Achan find a little bit more open space on his carries. And that's a scary thought because when he finds open space, he's off to the races. I talked in the previous segment about how much I love Christian McCaffrey. Devon Achan has the potential to be a younger, fresher version and he's playing in the exact same type of offense. I like Achan better than Christian McCaffrey. I don't like him as much as he likes him, but I think he's worth a top six pick in fantasy and full PPR.
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah, I'm right behind you. I have McCaffrey ahead of Achan, but I have both those guys ahead of Saquon Barkley. I think we're, David and I at least are in that camp. We have both those guys ahead of Barkley. I know he still has Barkley not ahead of HN, but right behind there. So not, not, not, not to discredit Barkley, but very excited. Heath is about Devon hn. You're also excited about a couple Bears guys here in DeAndre Swift and Romo Dunze. You have Swift as RB17. Odunze is wide receiver 36. Now. That's basically his average draft position. He's going as 37th overall. 80. 37th wide receiver, 82nd overall. But Swift, you are, you are considerably ahead of where he's at right now. He's RB21 but 57th overall. So talk about the two bears guys. With the addition of Ben Johnson as the head coach and some offensive line changes that may help this entire Bears.
Dave Richard
Offense yeah, and I don't think we should undersell those first two things as they relate to DeAndre Swift and Roma Dunes A. Ben Johnson should provide a world of difference in terms of what the Bears attempt to do offensively from last year. And the offensive line is almost a complete overhaul with mostly proven good blockers, which they did not have a lot of last year either. DeAndre Swift's never finished worse than RB24 per game. You said he's being drafted as RB21. That's on one site. Another side I saw it's RB25. He had 70 targets in 14 games. The last time he was with Ben Johnson was RB15 per game in full PPR and everybody says oh no, Jamal Williams scored 17 touchdowns. He was still RB15 per game in Ben Johnson's offense and they've made no effort to replace him. As for A Dunes A, we've seen a very slow start for Luther Burden. It wasn't a great summer for him. He had a hard time getting on the field. Now he's getting yelled out and kicked out of drills. And DJ Moore, There seems to be some sort of animosity or at least confusion between him and the new Ben Johnson offense. They're using him as a running back part of the time. Now we're seeing more and more chatter that Roma Dunes A might just be the number one wide receiver for the Bears this year. I think the ADP gap between Moore and Adunze is way too big based on the uncertainty we have over who's going to lead this team in targets.
Jamie Eisenberg
Just real quick, are you dropping DJ Moore in your rankings because of these reports about Romo Dunze and the struggles that maybe Moore is having?
Dave Richard
You know, I I have kind of he's in that are that wide receiver two range with the Terry McLaurin and the Cortland Sutton and the DK Metcalf and those guys all get juggled around, he's still going to probably be in the wide receiver 20 range. For me, the biggest loser so far for me has been Luther Burden and his just inability to be available. And I'm also getting a little bit concerned about his slow start for Col and Loveland. So the target share I've given to Odun is more coming out of those piles than more so far.
Jamie Eisenberg
Dave, you sort of been pushing back on DeAndre Swift a lot this offseason. I don't know if you're coming around on him at all, but hard to make the case against him after what Heath just said. Based on everything that could be unfolding for Swift as the lead running back.
Heath Cummings
For the Bears, especially since you're not drafting him close to his ceiling at all. And we know that I, I expected the Bears to make a number of moves at running back and kind of put DeAndre Swift almost in a very limited role in this offense. And they didn't do that at all. Didn't draft anybody. They drafted a guy but I, I don't know if he's going to matter. And then Roshan Johnson is the only other carryover from last year's team that's going to get working. He could be the short yardage goal line guy. That could cost DeAndre Swift some touchdowns, but it's not going to cost them opportunities to catch the ball. He talked about that. To carry the ball. He should lead Chicago in that. And so there's a very clear path for DeAndre Swift to be a top 24 fantasy running back. I'm happy to draft him as such. I just don't want to reach for him. I don't want to draft him like he's a top 15 or even a top 20 running back. There are too many other players with more upside than DeAndre Swift, but he's a safe pick. Now when we talk about a low end RB2 that you can start week in and week out, week in and week out and if you're going to go zero RB or even hero rb, he's the perfect running back to target in late round five, early round six to be your second rusher.
Jamie Eisenberg
A lot of moving parts with the Browns passing game. We know that Kenny pick is dealing with an injury right now. Joe Flacco getting more first team reps. So is Dylan Gabriel waiting to see what's going to happen with Shador Sanders. But Jerry Judy last year was amazing when Jameis Winston was under center. Now Heath, you're very aggressive on your Jerry Judy ranking 17th is where you have met wide receiver. His ADP is wide receiver 33, 73rd overall. So there was a report that I saw today where Joe Flacco connecting more with Cedric Tillman than Jerry Judy. I don't know if that's going to make you a little bit concerned, but how are you approaching Jerry Judy this year?
Dave Richard
What would really make me concerned is that Joe Flacco is not the starting quarterback because Joe Flacco has been a well above average producer of yards and touchdowns over the last two seasons. He goes into situations in Cleveland and Indianapolis the last two years where the past games awful and when he takes over, they average more than 270 yards passing per game. Game. I just hope that happens again. I'm not really worried about Tillman being the wide receiver one we saw Judy in the second half produce as a top five wide receiver. I think he could be top 12 this year. As many games as he plays with.
Jamie Eisenberg
Flacco and then Heath. Just real quick, Justin Fields, you said on our, on our show today on on Fantasy Football Today, the podcast that you would consider moving fields to QB7. Right now he's QB10 for you and he's QB10 based on average draft position. What do you think about Fields this year?
Dave Richard
I've decided I'm going to move him up to QB8. I think that's, that's high enough. I won't go ahead. Dak Prescott rushed for 826 yards and eight touch in his last 17 starts. Reunited with college teammate Garrett Wilson. Averaged more than eight fantasy points per game on the ground last year. If he's even average as a passer, he could be a league winner.
Jamie Eisenberg
And now he's got that Detroit offense. And last year, his final four games for the Steelers, over 24 fantasy points per game could be one of these big difference makers because of his legs. All right, we're going to take a break here on Fantasy Football today. When we come back, it's my turn with my most wanted players going a little bit deeper in terms of average draft position. But still guys that I'm looking to target. We'll talk about them next year on fft.
H
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Jamie Eisenberg
Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today. I'm Jamie. That's Heat, that's Dave. Let's recap some of the most wanted players for those two gentlemen. For Dave, his most wanted players were McCaffrey, Nico Collins, Bucky Irving, Omarion Hampton and Caleb Johnson. For Heath, it was Devon H. And Deandre Swift. Jerry, Judy, Romo, Dunze and Justin Fields. And now it's my turn. Here are the five guys that I'm trying to draft a lot of a little bit later in terms of some of these guys, especially at the quarterback position. Drake May, Jordan Mason, DK Metcalf, Courtland Sutton and David Najoku. Let's talk about the situation with Drake May because I like him. Heath, you do not. So he is a top 12 quarterback for me. His average draft position is QB18 on fantasy pros. What I like about what I saw last year was in 10 healthy games, half of those he was at 21 and a half fantasy points or more and he was on pace for 630 rushing yards in those five games. They give him Josh McDaniels, they give him Stefan Diggs, they give him Kyle Williams, they give him Trevion Henderson. All these guys are going to help in the passing game and I think May is going to have a breakout season. I think he should be a number one quarterback. You think otherwise why?
Dave Richard
I'm just concerned that the receiving core is still not actually very good and that what Josh McDaniels brings in terms of a benefit for slot wide receivers like Demario Douglas and pass catching running backs like Trevion Henderson could actually negate a little bit of May's value from last year which was based on his rushing. He's talking about running less than he did last year. The one thing I'll say is he's going to run for lower yards per carry than he did last year. 7.8 yards per carry is outlandish for a quarterback. So if his rush attempts don't go up then the rushing production per games really go goes down and I'm not sure the the receiving core is good enough to elevate him beyond that.
Jamie Eisenberg
The one thing that I did see which makes me a little bit more encouraged. There was a report today by one of the Patriots outlets about just how good McDaniels designed RPOs for Cam Newton and we could see something similar happening for Drake May and also Josh Dobbs. He talked about that as well that he said that McDaniels wants these guys to use their legs. I hope we don't see Josh Dobbs, so I hope it's going to be a lot of Drake May, but I do think there's a lot of upside for him. So that's why I'm encouraged. I'm going to ignore what you said, but everybody else that does not want to listen to my positivity about Drake May can Listen to Heath. Jordan Mason again. We talked about this at the start of the show that Kevin o' Connell said. Kevin o' Connell is sort of letting it play out that we're going to see both these guys in terms of Mason and Jones split time right now. Mason again RB38 at 112 overall. Aaron Jones going at RB25. Much sooner than that. Dave, you said you don't want to see Aaron Jones suffer any injuries, but last year Jordan Mason again stepped up when there was no Christian McCaffrey on the field, averaging almost 15 points per game. PPR points per game in the time that McCaffrey missed when Mason was the starter before he started to deal with some injuries and Isaac Garrendo took over more. So about Aaron Jones because I think we said, you know, we're going to take the value of Jordan Mason. I think you and I sort of agreed on that. When you look at Aaron Jones, when would you be comfortable drafting him?
Heath Cummings
I'm thinking it's got to be like late round six and into round seven for Aaron Jones just because we know that he can contribute. He'll probably be the better running back on a per game basis compared to Jordan Mason. In full ppr, I think it's going to be really close and non ppr, but in full ppr, I think Aaron Jones will probably be the better bet. But I don't. There are a number of rookie running backs, a number of other guys. DeAndre Swift rather have him ahead of Aaron Jones at this point because I'm just not convinced that Aaron Jones is going to get a ton of work. And that's saying something because last year Jones was the lead guy. There were only six games in Minnesota where a second running back had nine or more touches behind Aaron Jones. I think that flips this year. I think more often you're going to see two running backs with double digit touches. Double digit touches. Say that five times fast in Minnesota this season.
Jamie Eisenberg
I just hope it's not Ty Chandler. Let's hope it's just sticking to Eric.
Heath Cummings
It won't be. It won't be. They made the effort to get Mason.
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah, for sure. But you never know how these coaches go. For me, I got two receivers that are going in somewhat of a similar range. DK Metcalf, wide receiver, 18 for me. Cortland Sutton, wide receiver, 19. Metcalf's ADP is wide receiver, 21 51st overall. Sutton's ADP is wide receiver, 24, 50th overall. So basically back to back for these two guys, the thing I like about Metcalf is the addition of Aaron Rodgers. Obviously what we've seen from Rodgers throughout his history is when he has a number one wide receiver in that alpha role, he leans on that guy. Go back to Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, Randall Cobb. Obviously what he's done with Devonte Adams in multiple stops now with the packers and the jets and I think Metcalf is going to be that guy. You look at this receiving core, it's absolutely abysmal. Maybe John New Smith in the tight end spot, but I think Metcalf is certainly worth drafting in round four. And then Cortland Sutton might be one of the more underrated fantasy receivers coming into this season. If you look at the way that he finished last year, got off to a little bit of a slow start, but he averaged over 18 PPR points per game in his final 10 outings with Bo Nix as Knicks got better, Sutton got better, just got the big contract extension and I think even with the additions of Evan Ingram and Pat Bryant and still Devon Vale being there, Marvin Mims maybe taking a step forward, we'll see what Troy Franklin has. They're guys that are going to get opportunities. I just think that Sutton has established himself as the guy for Sean Payton and the guy for Bo Nix. Heath, when you look at these two receivers, who do you have a preference of between Metcalf and Sutton?
Dave Richard
This is one of the most Spider man meme situations that we'll have all year long. I've got them back to back in my wide receiver rankings, back to back in my overall rankings. I think they're both undervalued at the with the numbers you gave, I'd like both of them in round four. I'll take DK Metcalf just slightly over Cortland Sutton. Just don't make me guarantee to stick with that next week. These guys are right in the same range, thrilled to get either one of them in round four.
Jamie Eisenberg
It's a great way to start your team if you take a hero RB approach. So you get a running back in round one or round two. So you have a receiver in one of those spots, maybe a tight end in one of those spots. You come back in rounds four and five because I think based on the average average you could do it. Especially you're picking in the early part of round one. Get those guys as your wide receiver two, wide receiver three, wide receiver three, maybe wide receiver four as a flex could be a great way to start your roster based on how these two guys should Operate. Last most wanted player for me is David Najoka, at least the ones we're talking about today. And Dave, I think we're all sort of in agreement that he's got top five upside. But as Heath talked about with Jerry, Judy, for me at least is contingent on Joe Flacco playing the majority of this, getting the majority of the starts. Because I'll be a little bit nervous if it's Dylan Gabriel or Shador Sanders. We'll see what happens with Kenny Pickett at this point. But what Najoku and Flacco did together at the end of the 2023 season, it was basically 16 PPR points per game, which puts him in the same category, right behind guys like George kittle and Trey McBride and Brock Bowers from a point per game standpoint last year. And I think when you look at it, based on his average job position, he's going as tight at 9, 103rd overall. So to me, a guy with top five upside. I think you agree on that, Dave, don't you?
Heath Cummings
And he was hurt for most of last year. He played through injury and he still averaged a monster PPR point total, especially once desean Watson was out of there in Cleveland. And I think he might be. I think he might be okay, even if it's not Joe Flacco, if it's Dylan Gabriel, if it's Shador Sanders, and it's because of the role that he's in in Cleveland. Red zone weapon, short yardage guy or short area target guy? He's not a running back, so we can't say there's a short yardage guy, but they don't use them downfield running routes of 15 yards. He's there as just a guy that can catch little dump off passes, little short passes, moves the chains a little bit, and that's why he's gotten so many targets over the last two seasons and done so well with them. From an efficiency standpoint, I think he's the fifth best tight end you could draft in fantasy. And I would take him ahead of Travis Kelce at this point. I think you guys would agree.
Jamie Eisenberg
Yep. Kelsey going ahead of him, though, based on average job position, I know Heath, you like Najoku better than Sam Laporta. That's a guy that's, you know, someone in similar range. So we'll see how these tight ends sort of shake out once maybe we get some answers on the quarterbacks, especially with the situation in Cleveland. All right, we're going to take a break right now. We come back it's time for your questions.
Heath Cummings
Ask fft.
Jamie Eisenberg
Send them to us on X using that hashtag again, that's askfft. Your questions next here on CBS Sports Network. Thanks for selling your car to Carvana. Here's your check.
Travis Hunter
Whoa.
Heath Cummings
When did I get here?
Jamie Eisenberg
What do you mean?
Heath Cummings
I swear it was just moments ago that I accepted a great offer from Carvana online. I must have time traveled to the future.
Jamie Eisenberg
It was just moments ago. We do same day pickup. Here's your check for that great offer.
Narrator
It is the future.
Heath Cummings
It's.
Jamie Eisenberg
It's the present and just the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind.
Heath Cummings
It's all good.
Dave Richard
Happens all the time.
Jamie Eisenberg
Sell your car the convenient way to Carvana. Pick up.
H
Times may vary and fees may apply.
Jamie Eisenberg
You have questions, we have answers. Here's your questions from X using the hashtag Ask FFT. Jay wants to know the 11th pick in our cutthroat league. Meaning everyone is very knowledgeable. Thanks to you guys. Another podcast. Should I snag my RB1? Or if the opportunity presents itself, do I take the likes of a Brian Thomas Jr. And Nico Collins? So Heath, what are you doing at the 11th pick? Taking a running back or Thomas or Collins?
Dave Richard
Well, and for the cutthroat league, then I'm assuming that everybody's going to draft Devon Hn higher than his current adp, which is in round two. If Achan's there, you have. I. I can't pass him up for any of those guys. If he's not, then I'm really looking at the wide receivers and maybe taking two of them there at the turn.
Jamie Eisenberg
Could also look at Ashton Genti potentially if he's there as well. And maybe McCaffrey falls to that spot also. Next question for our answering pleasure here. 12 team, two running back, two wide receiver, two flex PPR league. Would you recommend filling up your first six picks with running backs and wide receivers and str from quarterback and tight end positions? So Dave, what's your strategy with 2, 2 and 2 in a PPR league?
Heath Cummings
I want to draft a quarterback at a fair value. I certainly don't want to reach for one. That's definitely in the case here. In a 12 team league with six starters that can be a mix of running backs and wide receivers and the same thing at tight end. I don't want to reach for that position either. I certainly don't want to get one of each in my first five rounds. Go ahead and get one of those if there's a good value. For example, if Jaden Daniels makes it to round four. Man, grab that up. That's a good value but otherwise don't force it with the onesie positions.
Jamie Eisenberg
All right, next question for for us. Here comes to us from John. Who is the best keeper to have at their current fantasy value? Keeping Justin Jefferson to give up a first round pick. Keeping Brock Bowers giving up a third round pick. I assume it's Brock Bowers and not Brock Purdy. So what would you rather do here, Heath, Justin Jefferson around one or Brock Bowers around three?
Dave Richard
I believe I will be on an island here but I'm going to say Brock Bowers because I think Brock Bowers should be taken at the 12 turn.
Jamie Eisenberg
I would rather have Brock Bowers in round three than just Jefferson in round one. What about you, Dave?
Heath Cummings
I would agree. I think that value on Bowers is close enough to good. Much less fair to take him over Jefferson who's a slam dunk as a first rounder.
Jamie Eisenberg
All right, next question. Keep one Baker Mayfield in the 11th route or Jaden Daniels in the fifth round? Who you keeping, Dave?
Heath Cummings
I'm keeping Daniels. I think both are obviously great values, but to me Jaden Daniels is the more exceptional player, has more upside in fantasy. I'll keep him.
Jamie Eisenberg
Heath, what about you?
Dave Richard
100 Jaden Daniels.
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah, I think Daniels, the value is just too good to go with him there. As good as Baker Mayfield can be, keeping Daniels in round five makes the most sense. All right, I'll do it for us here. Make sure you check out our fantasy football Today podcast. We're doing our position previews, getting you set with everything you need. Quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end. The best podcast in the business. Fantasy Football today.
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Podcast Summary: Fantasy Football Today - "FFT on CBSSN: 14 Most Wanted Players by the Experts for 2025! Achane, McCaffrey, Collins, Irving, Fields, & More!" (Released July 31, 2025)
Hosted by Jamie Eisenberg, featuring analysts Dave Richard and Heath Cummings.
The episode kicks off with host Jamie Eisenberg welcoming listeners to "Fantasy Football Today" on CBS Sports Network. He introduces the panelists—Dave Richard and Heath Cummings—and sets the agenda to discuss the most coveted fantasy football players for the 2025 season. The primary focus is on player rankings, potential draft strategies, and addressing listener questions.
Discussion Highlights:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion: While Hunter shows immense potential, uncertainties about his defensive role and longevity keep him from being an immediate first-round pick.
Discussion Highlights:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion: Both RBs offer value, with Harvey being the flashier pick and Dobbins providing consistency, depending on team needs and draft strategies.
Discussion Highlights:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion: Mason emerges as a high-value, cost-efficient option, especially in a balanced RB setup, whereas Jones offers reliability but with some injury concerns.
Discussion Highlights:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion: Collins is poised to thrive in Houston's dynamics, making him a highly desirable wide receiver despite last season's injury setbacks.
Discussion Highlights:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion: Irving offers significant upside, especially in clutch situations, but placement in drafts may vary based on team strategies and risk tolerance.
Key Injuries Discussed:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion: Injuries play a critical role in shaping player value and drafting strategies. Andrews benefits from Likely's injury, enhancing his immediate fantasy appeal.
Players Discussed: Xavier Worthy, Rashi Rice, Marquis Brown.
Analysis:
Notable Quotes:
Conclusion: Both Worthy and Rice are considered top 24 wide receivers for Heath, with their value contingent on health and suspension statuses.
Focus on Christian McCaffrey:
Notable Quotes:
Focus on Devon H.:
Notable Quotes:
Focus on Drake May:
Notable Quotes:
Drafting Running Backs and Wide Receivers:
Quarterbacks and Tight Ends:
Notable Quotes:
Key Questions Addressed:
Jay's Question: Should he snag an RB1 or target mid-rounds like Brian Thomas Jr. and Nico Collins at the 11th pick.
John's Keeper Dilemma: Keep Justin Jefferson (WR1) versus Brock Bowers (TE).
Other Queries:
Notable Quotes:
The episode wraps up with a comprehensive recap of the most wanted players across the three experts, emphasizing the importance of balancing high-upside picks with reliable performers. Analysts encourage listeners to stay informed on player health and team dynamics to optimize their draft strategies. The panel also invites listeners to engage via social media for future discussions and updates.
Overall Insights:
Actionable Recommendations:
For more in-depth analysis and updates, tune into future episodes of "Fantasy Football Today" on CBS Sports Network.